THE HAY-BOX

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 363, 7 June 1946, Page 26

THE HAY-BOX

A Fireless Cooker NE of our readers has asked that we. again publish the directions for making a haybox. This is useful at all times, but especially now that fuel is sometimes short. Procure a box with a well-fitting lid -a fairly large box. Line it thickly with newspapers. Then fill the box with hay, packing it very tightly for five inches all round. See that the corners are well packed. Then make nests for the saucepans, which must have tight-fitting lids to keep in the steam. Make a cushion of hay to cover the top of the saucepans. Finally tuck it all in with an old blanket and close the box lid firmly.

Food cannot be overcooked in the haybox, and may be left all day or overnight. Of course, it may require re-heat-ing when it comes out of the box, and it must be partly cooked first, the time depending on "what’s cooking." I wili put a time-table down below, but first let me quote a letter from one of the good Links in our Daisy Chain, "The box used must be well-packed with hay. I use several boxes and have the "nest" just the size of the pot I’m using in that particular box. The lid of the box must have a hay lining which fits tightly on to the pot, and the hay in the box must be packed as tightly as possible all round the pot. It is the tightness of the hay that makes the success of hay cooking. I pack my hay in, leave it awhile, and then pack more in, and so on, till my hay is as tight as it would be in a haystack. I then make a nest just large enough to take the pot, and when the lid is put down, no cold air can possibly enter. Stews, soups, corned beef, etc., are perfect cooked in this way. I hope I have made this clear. Perhaps I should say it requires a large box, as the hay must be thick at the sides and bottom of the box, as well as a good thick layer’on the lid. I tack a sugar bag over the hay lining on the lid, just to keep it in place... ." Time-Table Porridge: Boil for five minutes on the stove, and leave it all night in the haybox. Stews: Boil for 20 to 30 minutes, and leave it 4 hours or more in the box. Hams, Corned Beet, etc.: Boil 40 minutes on stove, and leave 6 hours or more in the box. Haricot Beans: Boil 20 minutes on stove; 4 to 6 hours in the box. Potatoes: Boil 5 minutes on the stove; and 1% to 2 hours in the box. Milk Puddings: Boil 5 to 10 minutes on the stove; 3 to 4 hours in the box. Steamed Puddings: Boil 45 to 60 minutes on the stove; 2 to 3 hours in the box. Experience will teach further use,